Butterfly Caterpillars

Watch the wonderful metamorphosis process of butterfly caterpillars.

Gaze in amazement at how these wonderful cretures turn into butterflies. These little critters are a wonder of nature. See how caterpillars grow through a series of moults with intermediate stages called instars. The last moult takes them into the inactive pupal or chrysalis stage.

Caterpillars have about 4,000 muscles (compare humans, with 629). They move through contraction of the muscles in the rear segments pushing the blood forward into the front segments elongating the torso. The average caterpillar has 248 muscles in the head segment alone.

The USDA governs which butterflies can be shipped into which state! Go to the USDA Page to find out which butterfly can be shipped into your state.